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Witches of Islandmagee, and the Hidden Servants of Castle Coole House.

The story of the "witches" of Islandmagee, and the servants hidden below stairs at Castle Coole House in Enniskillen.

In 1711, eight women and a man were found guilty of witchcraft at Carrickfergus courthouse. A young girl new to the area, Mary Dunbar, had accused them of bewitching and tormenting her. They became known as the Islandmagee Witches. The majority were sentenced to a year in jail and forced to do time in the public stocks. Historian, Andrew Sneddon, tells Anne Marie McAleese what's known about those events, and she also hears about a new interactive exhibition in Carrickfergus museum.

And Castle Coole in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh was built to impress in the 1790s, as home to the Earls of Belmore, but with servants kept firmly out of sight. Deirdre Donnelly met Rona McKnight, Collections and House Manager at Castle Coole, along with two volunteers, Thomas Maguire and Lizzie Hogg.

Presented by Anne Marie McAleese.

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20 minutes

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